Joannicius II
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
Church	Church of Constantinople
In office	16 November 1646 – 28 October 1648 June 1651 – June 1652 April 1653 – March 1654 March 1655 – July 1656
Personal details
Born	unknown
Died	1659 or 1660
Previous post(s)	Metropolitan of Heraclea

Joannicius II of Lindos (Greek: Ἰωαννίκιος ὁ Λίνδιος; died 1659 or 1660) was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople four times from 1646 to 1656.

Life

Joannicius was a native of Lindos on the island of Rhodes. He was appointed Metropolitan of Ganos and Chora in 1624 by Patriarch Cyril Lucaris and in 1636 he became the Metropolitan of Heraclea. Supported by the Moldavian Voivode, Vasile Lupu, he was elected the first time to the Patriarchal Throne on 16 November 1646.^[1]

Throughout the 17th century, it was customary that the intrigues and quarrels into the Greek community and the Holy Synod caused rapid changes and re-instalments of Patriarchs: from 1595 to 1695, there were sixty-one changes and thirty-one Patriarchs.^[2] These frequent changes were encouraged by the Ottoman authorities who received a fee for each appointment. Joannicius too was subject to recurring depositions and re-election: he was deposed on 28 Oct 1648, re-installed for the second time in June 1651, deposed in June 1652, and he reigned again from April 1653 to March 1654 and from March 1655 to July 1656.^[3]

In 1654 he was imprisoned for being the main cause of the accumulating debts of the Patriarchate towards the Ottoman Porte.^[4] After the last deposition in 1656, he was appointed bishop of Kea and Thermia, where he retired until his death in 1659 or 1660.^[3]

To strengthen his position towards his opponents, he looked for the support of the Austrian Emperor and of Rome. For this reason, he allowed Catholic missions to be settled in the Black Sea coasts and in the Cyclades. Despite this, refused to sign a Catholic profession of faith as asked by Propaganda Fide, pleading his precarious position.^[1]

Notes

^ ^a ^b R. Aubert (2000). "Joannikios II". Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques. Vol. 27. Paris: Letouzey et Ané. 1379-80. ISBN 2-7063-0210-0.
^ Runciman, Steven (1985). The Great Church in captivity : a study of the Patriarchate of Constantinople from the eve of the Turkish conquest to the Greek War of Independence. Cambridge University Press. p. 201. ISBN 978-0-521-31310-0.
^ ^a ^b Kiminas, Demetrius (2009). The Ecumenical Patriarchate. Wildside Press LLC. p. 39. ISBN 978-1-4344-5876-6.
^ "Βιβλιοπαρουσίαση: Π. Γεωργαντζή: «Η Εκκλησία κατά το 1821»". Archived from the original on 5 October 2011.

Religious titles Preceded byParthenius II Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople 1646–1648 Succeeded byParthenius II Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople 1651–1652 Succeeded byCyril III Preceded byPaisius I Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople 1653–1654 Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople 1655–1656 Succeeded byParthenius III

v t e Bishops of Byzantium and Patriarchs of Constantinople
Bishops of Byzantium (Roman period, 38–330 AD)	Andrew Stachys Onesimus Polycarpus I Plutarch Sedecion Diogenes Eleutherius Felix Polycarpus II Athenodorus Euzois Laurence Alypius Pertinax Olympianus Marcus I Philadelphus Cyriacus I Castinus Eugenius I Titus Dometius Rufinus Probus Metrophanes Alexander
Archbishops of Constantinople (Roman period, 330–451 AD)	Alexander Paul I Eusebius Macedonius I Eudoxius Evagrius Demophilus Maximus I Gregory I Nectarius John I Chrysostom Arsacius Atticus Sisinnius I Nestorius Maximianus Proclus Flavian Anatolius
Patriarchs of Constantinople (Byzantine period, 451–1453 AD)	Anatolius Gennadius I Acacius Fravitta Euphemius Macedonius II Timothy I John II Epiphanius Anthimus I Menas Eutychius John III John IV Cyriacus II Thomas I Sergius I Pyrrhus Paul II Peter Thomas II John V Constantine I Theodore I George I Paul III Callinicus I Cyrus John VI Germanus I Anastasius Constantine II Nicetas I Paul IV Tarasius Nicephorus I Theodotus I Antony I John VII Methodius I Ignatios Photios I Stephen I Antony II Nicholas I Εuthymius I Stephen II Tryphon Theophylact Polyeuctus Βasil I Αntony III Nicholas II Sisinnius II Sergius II Eustathius Alexius Michael I Constantine III John VIII Cosmas I Eustratius Nicholas III John IX Leo Michael II Cosmas II Nicholas IV Theodotus II Neophytus I Constantine IV Luke Michael III Chariton Theodosius I Basil II Nicetas II Leontius Dositheus George II John X Michael IV^† Theodore II^† Maximus II^† Μanuel I^† Germanus II^† Methodius II^† Manuel II^† Arsenius^† Nicephorus II^† Germanus III Joseph I John XI Gregory II Athanasius I John XII Nephon I John XIII Gerasimus I Isaias John XIV Isidore I Callistus I Philotheus Macarius Nilus Antony IV Callistus II Matthew I Euthymius II Joseph II Metrophanes II Gregory III Athanasius II
Patriarchs of Constantinople (Ottoman period, 1453–1923 AD)	Gennadius II Isidore II Joasaph I Sophronius I Mark II Symeon I Dionysius I Raphael I Maximus III Nephon II Maximus IV Joachim I Pachomius I Theoleptus I Jeremias I Joannicius I Dionysius II Joasaph II Metrophanes III Jeremias II Pachomius II Theoleptus II Matthew II Gabriel I Theophanes I Meletius I Neophytus II Raphael II Cyril I Timothy II Gregory IV Anthimus II Cyril II Athanasius III Neophytus III Parthenius I Parthenius II Joannicius II Cyril III Paisius I Parthenius III Gabriel II Parthenius IV Dionysius III Clement Methodius III Dionysius IV Gerasimus II Athanasius IV James Callinicus II Neophytus IV Gabriel III Neophytus V Cyprianus Athanasius V Cyril IV Cosmas III Jeremias III (Callinicus III) Paisius II Seraphim I Neophytus VI Cyril V Callinicus IV (III) Seraphim II Joannicius III Samuel Meletius II Theodosius II Sophronius II Gabriel IV Procopius Neophytus VII Gerasimus III Gregory V Callinicus V (IV) Jeremias IV Cyril VI Eugenius II Anthimus III Chrysanthus Agathangelus Constantius I Constantius II Gregory VI Anthimus IV Anthimus V Germanus IV Meletius III Anthimus VI Cyril VII Joachim II Sophronius III Joachim III Joachim IV Dionysius V Neophytus VIII Anthimus VII Constantine V Germanus V Meletius IV
Patriarchs of Constantinople (Turkish period, since 1923 AD)	Gregory VII Constantine VI Basil III Photius II Benjamin Maximus V Athenagoras Demetrius Bartholomew
^† in exile at Nicaea Christianity portal